Lisa Cooper named to Board of Ed 1

Lisa Cooper with her family at the Swearing In Ceremony

Lisa Cooper is Oakland’s newest Board of Education member. She takes the vacant spot of Russell Talamini, who was recently named to the Oakland Council, replacing Betsy Stagg who resigned earlier this summer. The term expires in April, 2015.

Lisa was interviewed by the remaining 4 members of the BOE. It was apparent that she was able and ready for the position. Her career as an attorney was cited as well as her extensive service to Heights PTO and the Oakland Education Foundation. She was the recording secretary of the PTO and served as Trustee, Secretary and was recently elected as Vice President of the OEF. As a member of the OEF for the last 4 years she was part of the group that raised the most funds in the history of the OEF. She served on many committees, including the nominating committee, the teacher grant committee, the casino night committee to name a few. The OEF also has helped fund the Balanced Literacy program recently added to the Oakland Schools’ curriculum. Lisa felt that this position was a natural progression for her to continue her work for the Oakland School System. The BOE did as well. They were duly impressed with her candidacy.

Two others applied for the position. Frank Spinella was interviewed and did impress the board. He does not have children in the school system yet. His financial background, with the SEC was a great asset. The board asked him to continue to be involved, to which he replied that he was thankful for the opportunity and realized he had much to learn and for sure would be there and stay involved. The other candidate was not available for the interview.

Lisa Cooper being sworn in to office.

In an article in The Suburban it stated that James Gaffney was voted in as President and Carita Shelkin as Vice President.
Click here to read the article in The Suburban: Oakland fills school board vacancy